Water leak in Windguard batwing antenna ???

[John_S2]

We had a rainy weekend in Central IL this holiday weekend. All was okay until we started getting water dripping from our wineguard batwing TV antenna handle inside the motorhome. I looked at the caulking around the antenna base on the roof and it looks pretty good. Is there any seal or something in the antenna housing that might need replacing or ??? Would appreciate any and all suggestions and ideas.

Thanks, John S.

[LarryJM]

John S wrote:
Darn, the decor sealant did NOT solve the problem. I still get water leaking through the antenna handle inside the motor home. What should I try next?

From page 5 of the manual HERE

LUBRICATING RUBBER QUAD RING
Lubricate rubber quad ring on elevating
shaft which is below worm gear with
silicone spray lubricant at least twice
yearly. This will keep quad ring from
becoming brittle which could result
in leaks down elevating shaft. Refer
to page 7 for removing worm gear
assembly. Item #7 on parts explosion.

Larry

[Lynnmor]

John S wrote:
Darn, the decor sealant did NOT solve the problem. I still get water leaking through the antenna handle inside the motor home. What should I try next?

In this order:

Recheck cable boot, it can pop off. Seal boot with adhesive silicone.

Replace quad seal on elevating shaft.

Replace seal under 15/16" nut from inside.

Pull antenna from roof and replace sealant tape, then caulk with Dicor when done.

I did all of the above and it needed everything but the seal under the 15/16" nut.

[John_S2]

Darn, the decor sealant did NOT solve the problem. I still get water leaking through the antenna handle inside the motor home. What should I try next?

[John_S2]

Thanks for the suggestions... Caulking looks good and does not peel but I supplemented it some and tried to seal the boot with some Dicor also. the boot did not look that great so I suspect that might be the source of the leak. Hope this does the trick. It is supposed to rain here over the next two days so I will find out. :=))

[rockhillmanor]

Lynnmor wrote:

John S wrote:
We had a rainy weekend in Central IL this holiday weekend. All was okay until we started getting water dripping from our wineguard batwing TV antenna handle inside the motorhome. I looked at the caulking around the antenna base on the roof and it looks pretty good. Is there any seal or something in the antenna housing that might need replacing or ??? Would appreciate any and all suggestions and ideas.

Thanks, John S.

Had a problem as well. Washers were missing from elevating shaft, Boot was messed up with sealant. Sealant didn't stick to aluminum base. Putty tape failed. See:

Antenna Leak

Wow, you sure did a nice job on that DIY!

[Bonefish]

msiminoff wrote:

There are 2 places they commonly leak- the first is the boot over the cable...

That's exactly where mine was leaking... A quick smear of Dicor around the top & bottom of the boot stopped the leak.

3X only time ours leaked the cable boot had pulled loose.

[Lynnmor]

John S wrote:
We had a rainy weekend in Central IL this holiday weekend. All was okay until we started getting water dripping from our wineguard batwing TV antenna handle inside the motorhome. I looked at the caulking around the antenna base on the roof and it looks pretty good. Is there any seal or something in the antenna housing that might need replacing or ??? Would appreciate any and all suggestions and ideas.

Thanks, John S.

Had a problem as well. Washers were missing from elevating shaft, Boot was messed up with sealant. Sealant didn't stick to aluminum base. Putty tape failed. See:

Antenna Leak

[ksg5000]

Also - there is a thin rubber gasket inside the screw mechanism (so thin it might have eroded/disappeared) - rather than replace the gasket it only cost a few bucks more to replace the entire screw mechanism (which comes with gasket) - easy/inexpensive DIY job.

[msiminoff]

There are 2 places they commonly leak- the first is the boot over the cable...

That's exactly where mine was leaking... A quick smear of Dicor around the top & bottom of the boot stopped the leak.

[Chris_Bryant]

There are 2 places they commonly leak- the first is the boot over the cable if they run the lead in there. The second is the worm gear- instructions say flood the worm gear with silicone lube.

[RLS7201]

Maybe the nut that holds things together is loose? Remove the handle, spring, plastic washer & rotator knob. Then see if you can get a deep well 15/16" socket on the nut that is in the hole. You'll have to turn the socket with some channel lock pliers. If you can't reach the nut with a socket, Winegard makes a special socket for that adjustment. If you get the nut too tight, the antenna won't rotate.
Parts break down.

Richard